Saving Him • editing/rewriting

five-with ears to see and eyes to hear

My mind went blank for a second and I had absolutely no idea what she was on about but then I remembered the lie I told. Oh shit.

"It's going great!" I said with a little too much enthusiasm. And that's when everything got a thousand times worse. It went from about 20 to 100 real quick because Mike, who did I mention was my boyfriend, joined us and uttered the words, "Katie, I see you've met my grandma. What are you doing here though?"

I just stared at him with my mouth slightly open for a second. I had dug myself into a deep, deep hole. Mike gave me a confused smile.

"She's helping the sick kids, Mike dear. Isn't she such a sweet girl?" His grandma gushed. Oh yes, I was as sweet as salt. I should be burning hell.

"Katie, you're late and Ross is wondering where you are." A voice suddenly said from behind us and to my absolute horror, Hunter was standing there talking about something that could blow everything. My eyes widened as I silently gave him a pleading look to shut the fuck up. He looked from me to Mike and his grandma and seemed to put two and two together.

"Does this dude help out with the kids too?" Mike asked, eyeing Hunter. Hunter looked unsure of what to do for a second but sighed, "Yes." He answered monotonously. Relief filled me. "And she is needed now so we should really get going."

Mike's grandma nodded, "Of course! We will see you around dear and good luck with your job."

I thanked her and was immediately dragged away by Hunter.

"Thank you so much. I owe you one." I said to him. But he just went back to ignoring me. I sighed. I guess I should've expected that. And even worse, I was 10 minutes late to the session. I knew Ross wouldn't be mad but it was going to be real fucking awkward for me.

Hunter opened the door without knocking and barged straight in while he mumbled 'found her'.

Ross looked at me and his face lit up like a Christmas tree, "Katie! Welcome, welcome. Hunter told me he saw you in the lobby. Were you lost?" He asked. So that's how he knew.

I shook my head and smiled, "No, sorry. I just bumped into a family friend." I explained. Ross accepted my excuse and started the lesson.

"So in today's game we're going to express our true feelings. The topic is 'How and What We Felt This Week'." Ross explained. Oh god. This was too close to home. And I knew everyone else thought the same thing. "Katie, why don't you start first?"

I bit my lip, "Guilty." I mumbled. Everyone stared at me. I gulped and wiped my sweaty hands on my jeans. This was a bad idea, coming today.

"And why did you feel that wa-" Ross was suddenly cut off by Tom.

"You shouldn't have blown us off for those bitches then." Tom snapped. It was the first time he didn't look calm or unbothered. He looked genuinely hurt. And that struck guilt to my heart like a lightening bolt. It hurt me to see him hurt. And I was the reason.

"Tom, leave it alone." Lauren said quietly. She was avoiding eye contact with me again. I just wished they would look at me, talk to me, stop ignoring me.

"I warned you that a person like her would never understand us. She's just another fake bitch playing with our feelings." Hunter spat, hostility in his voice. His words were like a stab to the heart. It hurt more than I anticipated.